Agilent Technologies Inc.
announced it has signed an agreement to acquire TILL Photonics GmbH and
has completed the acquisition of Colloidal Dynamics. Both companies
will join the recently created Materials Science Solutions Unit within
Agilent’s Life Science and Chemical Analysis business.
Financial details were not disclosed. The TILL Photonics GmbH
acquisition is expected to be final at the end of March, subject to
certain closing conditions.
In addition to the acquisitions, Agilent is announcing five
enhancements to its flagship gas chromatograph (GC) and GC/mass
spectrometer (GC/MS) platforms, designed to improve analysis of complex
mixtures and make powerful qualitative and quantitative capabilities
accessible to a wider range of laboratories.
Acquisitions for Business Unit
The Agilent Materials Science Solution Unit (MSSU) was formed
in 2007 under the leadership of Mike Gasparian, vice president and
general manager. MSSU’s focus is to provide microscopy,
particle analysis and optical spectroscopy solutions for the materials
testing, life sciences and chemical analysis markets, as well as to
advance nanotechnology.
“Our Materials Science Solutions Unit targets
expansion of measurement platforms for research scientists in many
existing and new market segments,” said Mike Gasparian, vice
president and general manager of Agilent’s Materials Science
Solutions Unit. “When final, the TILL Photonics acquisition
will position Agilent as a premier provider of advanced optical and
fluorescence microscopy systems. Colloidal Dynamics launches our
particle-measurement portfolio, allowing us to offer customers
unmatched zeta-potential and particle-size measurement tools.”
TILL Photonics develops and markets innovative life science
products for fluorescence microscopy. The acquisition will complement
Agilent’s atomic force microscope (AFM) platform and is
consistent with Agilent’s strategy of providing customers
with comprehensive workflow solutions. TILL Photonics employees are
expected to join Agilent when the acquisition becomes final at the end
of March. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the company was founded in
1993.
“I expect the novel TILL microscopy platform will
experience optimal maturing conditions as a part of Agilent and will
appeal to a much wider base of customers leveraging a strong sales and
support function,” said Dr. Rainer Uhl, founder of TILL
Photonics and professor at the BioImaging Center of the University of
Munich.
The acquisition of privately held Colloidal Dynamics enables
Agilent to have a complementary suite of particle-analysis solutions to
materials science customers in the polymer, specialty chemical,
inks/pigments, food, pharmaceutical and materials research markets.
“Our joining Agilent allows us to continue to
pioneer particle measurements and tap into worldwide service and
support for our products,” said Dave Cannon, former CEO of
Colloidal Dynamics Group. “Joining Agilent allows us to make
the most of the synergies that exist between the two companies; there
are exciting opportunities to grow.”
New Workflow Innovations Launched at Pittcon
7890A GC and 5975C GC/MS
- The first GC x GC configuration that doesn’t use
cryogen cooling. This removes a great deal of cost and complexity,
making the high peak capacity and resolving power of this method
accessible to a much wider range of labs.
- The acquisition of the Blos bead nitrogen/phosphorous
detector technology for the GC, designed to substantially increase
productivity and uptime.
- The Agilent J&W High-Efficiency Capillary GC Column
product line. Smaller internal diameter delivers high resolution while
shorter lengths increase speed.
- A new Triple-Axis detector for the 5975C GC/MS, delivering
the industry’s strongest signal at any given operating gain.
- An upgrade to Agilent’s Deconvolution Reporting
Software for GC/MS, used to extract MS signals from complex mixtures.
It is especially useful with dirty matrices.
LC
- The high-performance 1200 Series Rapid Resolution Liquid
Chromatography autosampler, delivering the lowest carryover and highest
precision of any autosampler on the market.
- The latest version of its popular triple quadrupole mass
spectrometer, the Agilent 6410B. It features faster polarity switching
scans to allow complex samples showing strong fragmentation in negative
polarity to be analyzed in a single run. Agilent also announced the
landmark sale of the 500th 6410 triple quad in less than two years.